While there are a variety of causes of spinal pain, in many instances such pain results from mis-alignment of members of the spine and/or changes in spacing of members of the spine. Often, these conditions result from degeneration, either from age or injury, of spinal discs. The primary surgical treatment options for disc degeneration are spinal fusion and dynamic stabilization.
Spinal fusion is a surgical procedure in which degenerated discs are removed and the resulting adjacent discs are held together by use of a rigid system of pedicle screws and rods until the discs grow together and fuse.
Dynamic stabilization is a surgical procedure that avoids disc removal and utilizes an elastomeric implant that restores desired alignment and spacing of vertebrae, relieves weight overload of individual discs, and permits substantially normal spinal movements. Improvement is desired in the provision of dynamic spinal stabilizers.
Spinal implants typically utilize various metal components, such as pedicle screws and rods. One problem associated with conventional dynamic stabilization devices is metal-to-metal contact of the various components, such as contact between the metal rod and the metal screw. Such metal-to-metal contact is undesirable, as metal-to-metal contact can result in metal flakes which flakes can be inflammatory and painful to the patient, and compromise the structural integrity of the stablizer.
Another disadvantage of conventional stabilizers is the presence of gaps between components of the stabilizer. Gaps are undesirable, as tissue can grow into gaps and interfere with the operation of the stabilizer and cause pain to the patient.
The present disclosure advantageously provides improved dynamic stabilization systems that avoid metal-to-metal contact of components that move relative to one another and minimize undesirable gaps between components of the system.